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It's Not Times Square From KWQC : Dick Clark will spend New Year's Eve in an unusual place for him -- a hospital bed. Clark has been in the hospital since suffering a mild st[r]oke earlier this month, and he'll be there at least through New Year's Day.... The 75-year-old Clark says he'll watch stand-in Regis Philbin -- and as always, will kiss his wife at midnight. Unfortunately, no one told the webmaster at Dick Clark Productions : Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve On December 31, 2004, Dick Clark will count down to midnight from Times Square for the 33rd consecutive year. Three consecutive specials begin at 10:30 pm and last into the New Year. (ABC) Because I live in an area of the United States that doesn't receive live programming, this officially hasn't happened here yet: A century after the first New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, close to a million revelers welcomed 2005 with wild cheering, confetti, fireworks and kisses, while...

Vic "The Brick" Jacobs I first saw him back on the Channel 13 (Los Angeles) 10:00pm news years ago. His gimmick at the time was to throw a brick at anything he didn't like. For those who haven't heard Vic the Brick, who primarily covers sports but also ventures into stock market coverage with hilarious results, has a broadcasting style that can best be described as "insane." Think of a Crazy Eddie who loves sports instead of electronics. From his XTRA Sports 690/1150 biography : If Jacobs is the future of sportscasting, traditionalists will have no one to blame but their local stations. Perhaps unconsciously, Jacobs has created a persona that is a brilliant, cutting protest against the hundreds of sportscasters named Scott and Kevin who wear their ties straight, blow-dry their hair according to regulation and read the scores cheerfully before chitchatting brainlessly with the weather nerd. "America's kids have gotten so sophisticated… ...

No Krystal Fernandez in San Francisco? Blog traffic has again picked up, but I doubt that this is the cause: Morning simulcast: KNBR (680 AM) has announced it will simulcast its morning show on sister station KTCT (1050 AM) beginning Jan. 3. The afternoon drive-time show with Ralph Barbieri and Tolbert also has a dual airing. You can read two things into the morning-show move: 1) It's a vote of confidence for Tim Liotta and former Chronicle sportswriter Brian Murphy, who took over the morning-show duties last month. 2) It's a vote of no confidence for the Van Earl Wright-hosted Fox Sports Radio syndicated morning show, which has run on KTCT. In October, Wright replaced Tony Bruno on the Fox program. If Bruno still had his job with Fox, it's pretty safe to assume the KNBR morning show wouldn't go the simulcast route. However, the radio stations claim that all drive time sports is local : San Francisco, California – The KNBR 680 Morning Show with Br...

Beverage Department Image Transformation Initiative, Breasts, Tammy Faye Bakker, Jessica Hahn, and Jerry Falwell From CNN , reported elsewhere: A female bartender who refused to wear makeup at a Reno, Nevada, casino was not unfairly dismissed from her job, a U.S. federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. Darlene Jespersen, who had worked for nearly 20 years at a Harrah's Entertainment Inc casino bar in Reno, Nevada, objected to the company's revised policy that required female bartenders, but not men, to wear makeup. A previously much-praised employee, Jespersen was fired in 2000 after the firm instituted a "Beverage Department Image Transformation" program and she sued, alleging sex discrimination. In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling in favor of Harrah's.... "We have previously held that grooming and appearance standards that apply differently to women and men do not constitu...

Confusing My Mythical Texas Towns I saw that someone arrived at my blog by searching for Quirksville. Somehow I got confused and was thinking of Brimbaw. For the record, Quirksville is not Brimbaw . Speaking of Texas towns, there is a non-mythical town in Texas named Dido . And, of course, the true stories from Virgil, Texas are based upon Weekly World News articles. What goes around comes around. Circle of life and all that. But this didn't happen in Texas : When Dido was five years old she stole a recorder (a flute-like instrument) from school. Dido didn't end up behind bars, but a year later her recorder practice helped land her a spot at the Guildhall School of Music in London, England. Dido was quite a musician - she played the piano, violin, and of course the recorder, by the time she was 10. Returning to Texas, I just learned a few unusual things about Ross Perot : In 1969...Perot attempted to take control, through a stock swap, of the Collins ...

Fremont Street Experience More pictures from our trip to Las Vegas can be found below (yes, I'm still using the system ). As I previously mentioned, this was my first trip to downtown Las Vegas itself (on previous trips I was either on the Strip, or east of the Strip). Fremont Street has received the Times Square treatment and is all prettified now - all that's missing is a Disney outlet. Although I don't have the capability to take good pictures at night (when the Experience can be Experienced), here are some morning pictures taken in the area. Fremont Street Experience is five blocks of thrills in the heart of Las Vegas. Ten casinos. 10,000 slots. More than sixty restaurants. Uncountable bars and lounges. All under Viva Vision - the biggest big screen on the planet, 90 feet overhead, blasting state-of-the-art light and sound shows every night.... Dazzling Displays. Superior Sound. Viva Vision! Beginning June 14, 2004, the famous Fremont Street Experience Light a...

While walking along Fremont Street on the morning of December 27, I took several pictures from a bridge on the east side of the Fremont Street Experience. This picture looks west toward the Fremont Street Experience itself. During the evening, pictures are projected onto the white over-thingy once an hour as part of a sound and light show. I saw the "Area 51" presentation later that same evening. 

While walking along Fremont Street on the morning of December 27, I took several pictures from a bridge on the east side of the Fremont Street Experience. This picture, looking northeast from the bridge, is probably not what the Chamber of Commerce wants you to see. 

As I previously mentioned in the blog, we stayed in Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas. This is a view of the casino from the Fremont Street Experience area. 

This picture was taken along the Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas, Nevada on the morning of December 27. Proving the statement that Las Vegas never closes, there is a 24 hour Starbucks on the route. 

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (OK, I think I've hit on the system - publish the photos first via hello.com, then write the text about the photos. This way, the text will appear before the photos in the blog. Of course, I reserve the right to change this "system" five seconds from now.) During our recent trip to Las Vegas, we spent the afternoon of December 27 at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area . Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area...[is] probably the best kept secret in Las Vegas. We receive nearly 1.2 million visitors every year....Red Rock Canyon National Conservation area is located 17 miles West of the strip on Charleston Boulevard (also shown as Highway 159 on some maps). The Bureau of Land Management is charged with the stewardship and protection of this national treasure. Our two non-profit partner organizations, Friends of Red Rock Canyon and Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Association, assist the BLM with both substant...

Interesting rock formation in Red Rock Canyon. (I'm finally starting to get the hang of this hello.com stuff.) 

Another picture from the Red Rock Canyon area. Even in the midst of the desert, small amounts of water gather and can be found by animals and vegetation. 

Red Rock Canyon scenic view. 

Here are some additional pictures is an additional picture (still trying to figure out this hello.com stuff) from our visit to Red Rock Canyon NCA on Monday, December 27, 2004. Red Rock Canyon is a few miles west of Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Here's some output from the new digital camera that I got for Christmas. The picture was taken at Red Rock Canyon NCA outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. (I'm the one on the right.) 

Stop Dragging My Pop Tart Around Yes, I was the one that wrote "People out there turning music into coal" before quoting an article mentioning Jim Stewart . No, I did not confuse him with John Stewart (emphasis mine): Biography by William Ruhlmann John Stewart first gained recognition as a songwriter when his songs were recorded by the Kingston Trio. In 1960, he formed the Cumberland Three, which recorded three albums for Roulette. The following year, he joined the Kingston Trio, replacing Dave Guard, and stayed with them until 1967. His song "Daydream Believer" was a #1 hit for the Monkees at the end of that year. Stewart traveled with Senator Robert Kennedy on his 1968 Presidential campaign, an experience that affected him deeply. In 1969, he released his classic album California Bloodlines, the first of seven solo albums to reach the charts through 1980. Stewart found his biggest commercial success with the Top Ten album Bombs Away Dream Babies and...

Krystal Fernandez Gay? Doesn't Appear To Be. Regarding the whole "Krystal Fernandez Gay" "Krystal Fernandez Lesbian" brouhaha. I am unfortunately the source of some misguided searches hitting Stephanie's web site. She explains: Who is Krystal Fernandez and why for the last few days have all my Google search been on whether she is gay? I find it highly unlikely that I've ever blogged about someone who I've never even heard of. What is UP with Google? Matthew put two and two together, and got four: You made a post not too long ago, which had the word gay in it.... In the comments section, Ontario Emperor mentioned Krystal Fernandez . If I remember his/her comment correctly, I think she's a sportscaster. At any rate, the way I found this out was to do a Google search for: Krystal Fernandez gay ... and your particular post that I gave the link for is the # 1 return. All Google does is do searches for relevant words, and appa...

Target Your Demographic This is addressed to the men who are reading this blog (for reasons that will become clear shortly). There are advertisers who want to advertise to you, and to make sure that they aren't wasting their advertising dollars on women. In the past, advertisers could just associate their ads with sporting events, but the Zany Sports Lady and Stephanie prove that there are female sports fans out there. Well, advertisers can move - and have moved - into the men's restroom. VisionBurst is one of the least controversial practitioners of this advertising form. They concentrate in Florida, but similar firms are doing business out here. Indoor Media is one of the most popular forms of Captive Audience Marketing. Full-color poster ads are displayed in attractive frames in restrooms, elevators, and other areas of popular nightclubs, restaurants, health clubs, arenas, office buildings, hotels, department stores, shopping malls, theaters, gas stations, ...

Southern Black Catholic With a Broken Heart Checked my recent search engine hits and found the following: 25/12/2004 22:48:26 %22i had a dream%22 remix %22martin luther%22 billy (Google) I don't know Billy, but I know Paul and Andy, and the OMD album The Pacific Age (now apparently out of print). Track 6 on this album is entitled "Southern," and features some Martin Luther King speeches (including his last speech) with an OMD musical background. Why King? Why not? Those English guys spent a lot of time singing about Southern blacks, including "88 Seconds in Greensboro" on Crush , which refers to this incident : JESSICA SAVITCH It could be called a dark Southern tale: right-wing extremists and left-wing extremists in a gun battle in Greensboro, North Carolina. In 88 seconds, five are left dead. Tonight on FRONTLINE, an inside story behind those 88 seconds in Greensboro. Six Klansmen and American Nazis went on trial for the Greensboro killings ...

More on Skinheads Months and months ago, I wrote this based upon my reading about skinheads. Michael Hanscom bookmarked it, then finally posted his own personal experiences with skinheads in Anchorage. Recommended reading.

I Originally Thought that the Following Post Would Be Inoffensive to People of All Religions... ...but then I remembered the following : Jehovah's Witnesses, like everyone else, get older. They just don't celebrate birthdays--theirs or anyone else's. They say that the origin of birthdays is connected to astrology, which the prophet Isaiah mocks as sorcery (47:13). And the only two birthdays that the Bible mentions are associated with death: Pharaoh's, when his chief baker is hanged (Genesis 40:20-23), and Herod's, when John the Baptist is beheaded (Matthew 14:6). Jehovah's Witnesses are so adamantly anti-birthday that they don't celebrate Christmas, which, of course, is Jesus' birthday. Well, for those who are not Jehovah's Witnesses, I'll let you know that tomorrow (December 26th) will be my 43rd birthday. There is one advantage to having a post-Christmas birthday; when everyone else has opened all of their presents on Christmas Day,...

Christmas Busy time. Last night, we visited the extremely controversial Christmas on Euclid displays. (For the record, the Bahais had a display on Euclid also.) From there we went to my aunt's (on my wife's father's side) for Christmas Eve, but were too tired to go to Christmas Eve services afterwards. Today we spent the afternoon at my brother in laws, where I watched most of the soap opera unfold. One item of note that may affect blog readers - i got a digital camera for Christmas. Once I take pictures of interesting things, you may see them here. Until then, look at Eddykins' blog for some pictures of the English countryside.

An Interesting Premise Take the initial chapters of Genesis, stick them somewhere after the events of The Return of the King, and you get The Nephilim Age . Comments are requested . The home site of the author, Falconmyst , is here . I'm not sure how Tolkien, a Christian who nevertheless loved the Norse myths, would have reacted...Half-Elves as the opponents of Noah?

Raise Hell An' Eat Cornbread An' Dis The One After 909 All I can say is... DANG . J, your trendy phrase deserves to blanket the galaxy. The ... scoop : I just got off the phone with my girl Moo Cow Jen.... Jen says, "Guess what everyone is saying on campus? It's your favorite saying, you started the trend baby.." I paused and then burst into laughter. "Raise hell an' eat cornbread!" "That's right girl!! Everyone is saying it! It's awesome!" I think I made that little phrase up right around the time of the cow incident. I actually still say it to this day. I was so tickled to see that my tradition stuck. Read http://simplerambles.blogspot.com/2004/12/raise-hell-and-eat-cornbread_22.html for more particulars, including this pointless comment: The Inland Empire area of Southern California (where I live) is derided by the snooties in the Westside etc. as a hick area (one radio show constantly makes fun ...

Two more blogs to check out Long long ago in a aviary far far away, Alli Deluxe linked to two blogs: Electric Bugaloo (Mikey) Tenth Muse (Joelle) Both are enjoyable reads. I'd add them to my ever-growing template, but I need to start vacation and like stuff. Vegas, baby (but not until my birthday)....

Surfin' Safari So I started at Dear Buster, reading this . Turns out that I'm not the only one who wonders about the search terms that people use to get to my blog. Take it away, Buster: 10. "Pictures of Mark Walberg Showing His Dick in Boogie Nights". It kills me when I see people who don't understand web search terminology....but if it helps, it was a prosthetic device.... So I replied: 10. Blame Ask Jeeves (which never worked for me). Perhaps some day a search engine will develop a true AI method of communicating with the searcher. SEARCHER: Yo, where can I find some hot pix of that rapper/actor who used to dance in his underwear? Like, I really want a pic from that movie where he flashed his schlong. SEARCH ENGINE: Do you mean Mark "Marky Mark" Wahlberg in "Boogie Nights"? SEARCHER: Yeah, that sounds about right. SEARCH ENGINE: I can show you some links, but if I were you I wouldn't bother. It was a prosthetic de...

Lakers Roasting on an Open Fire (Turn Up The Heat) Ah, Christmas - the time when many of us celebrate the birth of our Lord, and the time when people in Southern Florida and Southern California will be glued to their TV sets, watching a soap opera. Here is some recent coverage of the Shaquille O'Neal - Kobe Bryant story. From Jim Litke : Asked whether he expected Bryant to challenge him by driving the lane, Shaq’s first response was, “No. Not at all. It’s not something that I have time to think about, because I’m not that type of player.” But given a moment to think about it, he couldn’t resist adding. “But of course, when you’ve got a Corvette (Kobe) that runs into a brick wall (him), you know what’s going to happen.” O’Neal was smiling slyly when he said it, but that little cautionary tale works at several levels. First, it puts Bryant on notice that business is just that — business — and that anyone else who tried to drive the lane would get the same. Not su...

Ellen Simonetti on ZDNet Ellen Simonetti ("Queen of Sky") has taken her case to ZDNet in this December 17, 2004 commentary : ...I had been a flight attendant for Delta Air Lines for almost eight years when I started my blog, or online diary, in January of this year. I entitled it "Diary of a Flight Attendant." On Saturday, Sept. 25, I came home to flashing messages on my answering machine. "Ellen, I need you to call me back. It's about your trip tomorrow," repeated the urgent-sounding voice on the tape. The voice was that of a Delta Air Lines in-flight supervisor. I immediately dialed the number on the messages, thinking perhaps my Rome flight the next day had been cancelled. What the supervisor told me, however, left me shocked and sick to my stomach. "You won't be able to fly your trip tomorrow...it's about some pictures on the Web."... I began to hear stories about people like Heather B. Armstrong, of dooc...

Itanium News Some comments (dated December 20, 2004) on the contractual relationship between HP and Intel : The IT press was having a field day earlier this week as rumors were circulating about that a staff of chip designers that Hewlett Packard Co has had stationed in Fort Collins, Colorado assisting with the design of the Itanium chips with partner Intel Corp had been moved to Intel. The interpretation of what this small move meant was nearly uniform - that HP was in back-handed way washing its hands of Itanium - and it was also completely ass backwards. There's a reason why those Colorado chip creators have been moved to Intel, and while neither HP nor Intel will come out and say why, this is very likely the reason: Intel has no choice but to take them as part of the complex and secret contract between HP and Intel that created the Itanium chip....Intel...would have probably killed off Itanium a year or two ago (we surmise) if it were not for one fact: Intel has a contr...

Dark Mondays Supporters From the Green Party of California : GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA NEWS ADVISORY For immediate release: Thursday, Dec. 14, 2004 Contacts: Cres Vellucci, State Press Office, 916-996-1970, civillib@cwnet.com Beth Moore Haines, GPCA Spokesperson, 530-277-0610, beth@greens.org Kevin McKeown, GPCA Spokesperson, 310-393-3639, kevin@mckeown.net SACRAMENTO (Dec. 14, 2004) – The Green Party of California today officially endorsed a boycott of gasoline purchases on Mondays to protest the denial of driver's licenses to millions of immigrants in the state, and urged the more than 160,000 registered Green voters and all Californians to honor the boycott immediately. At dramatic news conferences held in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento Monday, the Mexican American Political Association and a coalition of other Latino groups announced the boycott that they have dubbed "Dark Mondays." MAPA is calling on the public to not purchase gasol...